NCTE Recap

Only one word to say about the NCTE conference in Boston: wow!

I met so many teachers, Twitter friends, Facebook friends, authors, etc. 

I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.

 Kirby Larson, Karen Cushman and I presented a program on Creating Story Worlds. We were so psyched to see such a great group of teachers who came to listen.

It was so nice to see some of our favorite Nerdy Book Club friends right there in the front row. Thanks, pals.)

Afterwards, we celebrated.

(l to r) Karen Cushman, Kirby Larson, Miriam Martinez (panel moderator), Nancy Roser (panel moderator)

 Throughout the conference, I ran into so many teacher friends and had lunch with my pal, Patrick Allen.

(clockwise from top left) Donalyn Miller, Patrick Allen, Colby Sharp, Katherine Sokolowski, Paul Hankins)

(top row l to r) Cindy Minnich, Cynthia Alaniz (bottom l to r) Megan Ginther, Holly Mueller

Karen Terlecky, Kirby Larson and I got to recreate our selfie from NCTE in Orlando in 2010. We haven't changed a bit!

Here we are again:

 

 There was lots of fan girl time with some of my favorite authors.

Karen Cushman

Kirby Larson

Tanya Lee Stone

Deborah Wiles

Linda Urban (and Loree Griffin Burns was there, too. Where'd she go?)

Laurie Halse Anderson

 AND, I scored an Advanced Reader Copy of Laurie's new book. Look what she wrote! Sweet? SWEET! (I'm not sure everyone would agree with that, but I'll take it.)

Special thanks to Colby Sharp and Jenni Holm for hosting the super fun Nerdy Book Club party!

P.S. The only negative: My Cafe Francais (aka according to Kirby: "That evil concoction") spilled into my suitcase. 

They did it again!

You might remember my obsession with Cafe Francais.

I am, once more, in mourning.

They have gone and changed the packaging again!!

It's not even a real CAN.

It's cardboard.

They better not have changed that delicious "coffee" inside.

Help!

March 2010:

July 2010:

I'm already having withdrawals.

Help me.

(I'll give you an arc of The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester if you send me a can of the OLD, original Cafe Francais - blue label. Warning: if I receive 245 cans, 244 of you won't get an arc. Heh)

Score!

Driving past a grocery store yesterday, I had a sudden impulse to zip in and see if, by some miracle, they had my beloved old and unimproved Cafe Francais "coffee."

Score!

Here's my current stash:

Now, granted, a few of them have passed their expiration date, but, hey, who cares?

Score!

My husband and I went out to dinner.

On the way home, it was dark and snowing.

Just as we were driving past a shopping center, I said, "Quick! Turn in here."

What he said: "Oh, geez, you're not going to look for that stupid coffee of yours, are you?"

What I thought: "Oh, be quiet and just give me some money, wouldya?

What I said: "Well, yeah, I thought I might just take a peek. Do you have some money on you? Do you need anything while we're here?" *smiles sweetly*

He handed me a twenty.

I dashed in.

Raced to the coffee aisle.

SCORE!

There were seven, SEVEN, SEVEN cans of blue-label Cafe Francais.

I didn't even have a basket with me. I just scooped those suckers up.

I hurried to the checkout.

Those cans were $4.49 each!!

I threw them down on the checkout and said, "Guard those with your life. I'm going to get more money."

I raced outside and yanked the car door open.

What I said: "I need more money."

What he said: "Oh, good grief, are you kidding me?"

What I thought: "Oh, just be quiet and give me the dang money, wouldya?"

What I said: "Oh, just be quiet and give me the dang money, wouldya?"

I grabbed another twenty, raced back inside, paid for those darling little cans, and I am happy.

The End

Photographic evidence:

My quest continues

Okay, now I'm REALLY obsessed with finding the old version of Cafe Francais in the blue label (as opposed to the supposedly new and improved).

Some blog readers have given me good suggestions (especially Kirby Larson, who told me to switch to beer).

One person got me to this message board where I see I am not alone in my outrage. I wrote a few scathing letters. I'm sure that will do the trick.

But in the meantime, I took another suggestion and hit the local Job Lot.

They had Fat City Coffee ("with Chutzpah"):

They had Extra Caffeinated Santa's Breakfast Buzz:

They had Fudge Brownie Coffee:

They had Nutt'n But Kisses Valentine Coffee Collection:

And they had Sumatran Vanilla Latte:

But, alas, no Cafe Francais with a blue label.
So I went to a few grocery stores.
Nope, only the NEW AND IMPROVED:

So then I got really desperate and went to the Dollar Tree:

They had Pampa Instant Coffee:

And Ameretto Cappuccino Supreme (with highly questionable expiration dates):

And Mazel Original Coffee Mix with Sugar & Creamer added (yum!):

But, alas, no Cafe Francais with a blue label.

I am doomed.

Today at Target...

...I hit the Mother Lode!!

FOUR. Count 'em....FOUR!

(Dear Target Shelf Stocker: I'm sorry that I messed up your shelves by scrounging thru all those coffee cans like a crazy person. I was temporarily insane.)

I'm in heaven

I've been in a bit of a funk after discovering that my beloved Cafe Francais International Coffee is now "new and improved."

It is not "new and improved."

It is new and awful.

Whoever the anonymous commenter was on my blog post was absolutely right.

After over 20 years, I have stopped drinking it.

Until TODAY -

When I went to the grocery store and there was one of the old cans - the not new and not improved.


Oh, happy day.

And by the way, if anybody out there finds a can of Cafe Francais with a BLUE label, I'll pay big bucks.

Don't scare me like that

Confession time.

I had two food-related cravings when I was pregnant 22 years ago.

1. Biscuits from Kentucky Fried Chicken

2. General Foods International Instant Coffee - but only Cafe Francais flavor

I still have one of those biscuits every now and then.

But I drink that "coffee" EVERY DAY.

Every. Day.

I know, I know.....

Two of the primary ingredients are dipotassium phosphate and maltodextrin.

Yum!

I even took a can with me to Europe.

Imagine sitting in a Parisian cafe, ordering hot water, and whipping out your can of Cafe Francais. Ha! (Hey, it says right on the can "inspired by the cafes of France" - so there!)

My family still laughs about the time not that long ago when, for some reason, I was convinced that they were going to discontinue it and I bought a gazillion cans to stock up.

I had another scare yesterday.

They changed the label on the can and made me panic because I thought they had done something drastic.

But they just changed the label. (New label is on the right)


Phew!

(And notice that now they call it "Coffeehouse Beverage Mix" instead of "Coffee Drink Mix.")